Noom – Advocacy Coordinator
Before joining Tamtang I worked as a columnist for a women’s magazine and got the opportunity to participate in the The Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. At the event, I met Anjana, a lesbian feminist activist who changed my life. She was the first lesbian to come out publicly in Thailand. I ended up volunteering with the organisation she had founded and doing my Master’s dissertation on lesbian identity in Thailand at the same time. Through this, I became more and more involved in the women’s movement, lesbian activism, and issues faced by women living with HIV.
I cannot accept injustice when I see it.
I’m used to this kind of advocacy work. Even before I joined Tamtang I was fighting with the government to include gender equality in their national HIV policies. Now I develop information-based advocacy on abortion, compiling evidence to present to politicians.
I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid of the government or anyone. When I was a freelancer, I could speak as myself, and I carry this now and it helps my work with Tamtang. Even when the policymakers don’t invite us, we find a way into these spaces where important decisions are being made.
Nobody knew much about Tamtang, as we were just a small group, but we made a big noise.
At the time of the pro-democracy protests in Thailand, one of our team members stood on a stage in front of 50,000 people to read a statement about the right to safe abortion and its connection to the right to democracy. It was only really Tamtang speaking out about this issue at the time. We engaged with other feminists in the movement and they were willing to sign our petition to abolish Section 301 (the part of the law which still criminalises those who get abortions).
At that time we were the only organisation to provide the public with clear information about the need for abortion law reform. We were the only ones really engaging with the public and the media, using the rising demonstrations as an opportunity for this conversation.
The way the law has changed is not satisfactory.
We still want a more progressive approach to abortion, where no one is at risk of prosecution for ending their pregnancy. And we still want to see better implementation of the law so people can actually access free abortion care when they need it.
I recently met with a network of abortion providers in Thailand and they told me that the changes in the law have actually made their work easier, and made the conversation about abortion more open. I hadn’t realised that Tamtang inviting two abortion service providers into the ad-hoc committee contributed to the legal amendment that successfully allows women to receive abortion care up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. It was good to hear that our work has been impactful in this way. Now groups like theirs are agreeing with us that we need to call for the complete removal of criminal penalties for abortion, so they have progressed.
Tamtang provides space for people to learn more about abortion. We are always open for everyone.